Red Bull just didn’t need KERS

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner finally revealed after the Australian Grand Prix that Red Bull ran the entire weekend without the aid of KERS.

There had been a lot of speculation regarding Red Bull’s use of KERS before the race and the on screen graphics appeared to indicate that Red Bull didn’t use the Kinetic Energy Recovery System during qualifying and questions were raised whether they would use it just at the start of the race, or not use it at all.

Rather ominously for the rest of the grid, Red Bull ran the entire weekend without their KERS device and still dominated from start to finish.

‘It was a fantastic day for Sebastian and the team, he was dominant in qualifying and totally dominant today,’ Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told the BBC after the race.

Running KERS gives teams an extra boost around the track of around 80bhp over a period of just less than seven seconds. This can either be used in one big boost for example at the start of the Grand Prix, or in small doses around a lap.

‘We felt Kers was a potential risk, and we made a decision not to run it. It didn’t look like we needed it.’ Horner added.

For Red Bull to be in the position they are without KERS is quite astonishingly and pundits are already discussing just how far ahead Red Bull will be when they do run with KERS.

That said, team-mate Mark Webber may well be asking if he could run it as his performance could have used the extra pace!